In this Series, it was the American League team's "turn" to play
by National League rules, meaning no designated hitter and the Orioles'
pitchers would have to bat. While this resulted in Tim Stoddard getting
his first major league hit and RBI in Game 4,
overall, it hurt the Orioles because Lee May, their designated hitter for much of
the season and a key part of their offense, was only able to bat
three times in the whole series.

Willie
Stargell, the series MVP, hit .400 with a record seven
extra-base hits and matched Reggie Jackson's record of 25 total
bases, set in 1977.

The Bucs lineup featured the National League leader in stolen bases,
Omar Moreno with 77;
team runs batted in leader, Dave Parker with 98, and two-time batting
champion, Bill
Madlock (1975, 1976). Madlock would add two more batting titles
in 1981 and 1983. The pitching staff was a ragtag bunch led by the
"Candy-Man", John Candelaria's fourteen wins (nine
losses) with five other pitchers winning ten or more games. The
tall and lean Kent
Tekulve had 31 saves, good for second in the league, while
winning ten games.

"Pops" Stargell would hit three home runs in this series
becoming the oldest player to win both the regular season MVP and
the World Series
MVP. His "Family" would come back after losing the first three out
of four games giving Earl Weaver and his Orioles a déjà vu nightmare,
the Bucs coming back to win in seven games.

On a cold wet October night, the 1979 World Series got off to an
ugly start. The Orioles scored five runs in the first, two on a
throwing error by second baseman Phil Garner, one on a wild pitch by starter
Bruce Kison, and the
final two on a homer by Doug DeCinces. The Pirate relief corps
held the Orioles in check as the Pirates clawed their way back on
the strength of four hits by Dave Parker and a homer by Willie
Stargell. The rally fell short, and the O's escaped with a 5–4
win.

This time, the Pirates struck first with two in the second on an
RBI single by Bill
Madlock and a sacrifice fly by catcher Ed Ott. The Orioles countered in the bottom half
of the inning with an Eddie Murray solo homer. Murray would also
tie the game in the sixth by doubling in Ken Singleton. Murray tried to put the
Orioles ahead in the same inning by tagging and attempting to score
on a line-out to right by John Lowenstein, but Dave Parker threw him
out easily. Making the decision to send Murray that much more odd
was the fact that Parker's throw to the plate arrived well ahead of
him. Murray tried to bowl Ott over at the plate, but the stocky Ott
held fast, staying on his feet.

Murray also made a questionable base running decision in the
eighth. With Murray on second with no outs, Lowenstein grounded
into the hole between short and third and Tim Foli made a sensational stop. Murray
inexplicably stopped between second and third, and Foli threw to
Madlock to force him out, and then Madlock threw to Phil Garner at second
to force Doug
DeCinces and complete an unusual double play. Murray would not
collect another hit or RBI for the rest of the Series.

In the ninth, after a two-out single by Ott and a walk to
Garner, Manny Sanguillen pinch-hit for Don Robinson and
hacked a high and outside fastball from Don Stanhouse into right for a single.
Ott barely slid past the outstretched arms of catcher Rick Dempsey to score
the winning run, after Murray had questionably cut-off a strong
throw from RF Ken Singleton. Kent Tekulve retired the side in the ninth
for the save.

With left-hander John Candelaria taking the mound for
the Pirates, Oriole manager Earl Weaver made a couple of lineup
changes, hoping to spark more offense. He led off with Kiko Garcia, playing
shortstop in place of light-hitting Mark Belanger, and used Benny Ayala in place of
Al Bumbry. Ayala and
Garcia were both right-handed hitters. The moves paid off as Ayala
slammed a two-run homer in the third, and Garcia sparked a five-run
rally in the fourth with a bases-loaded triple as part of a
4-for-4, four RBI evening. O's starter Scott McGregor pitched a
complete game for the victory.

The Pirates jumped on starter Dennis Martinez for
four runs in the second on a homer by Stargell, a two-run double by
Ott, and an RBI single by Omar Moreno. The Orioles struck back with
three in the third off Jim
Bibby on a two-run double by Game 3 hero Garcia, followed by an
RBI double by Ken
Singleton. The Pirates stretched the lead to 6–3 on single runs
in the fifth and sixth on RBI doubles by John Milner and Dave Parker.

In the eighth, Earl
Weaver once again showed some strategic genius. With one out
and the bases loaded, Pirates manager Chuck Tanner sent in submarining relief
ace Kent Tekulve
to face right-handed hitting Gary Roenicke. Weaver countered by
pinch-hitting lefty John Lowenstein, figuring the lefty
would be better able to hit Tekulve's sidewhip pitches. Lowenstein
made the move pay off by slamming a two-run double. After a walk
loaded the bases again, Weaver sent another lefty hitter, Terry Crowley, to
bat for Dave Skaggs. Crowley smashed another two-run double off
Tekulve to give the Orioles the lead. To add insult to injury,
pitcher Tim
Stoddard, batting because Weaver was out of pinch hitters at
that point, followed with an RBI single. An RBI force-out by Bumbry
ended the scoring.

Game 5

With a world championship on the line and Game 1 starter Bruce Kison injured, Chuck Tanner decided
to go with little-used veteran left-hander Jim Rooker as his starter. He would let
Rooker go as long as possible, then bring in Bert Blyleven to
finish, saving his two best pitchers, sore-shouldered John Candelaria
and Jim Bibby for Games
6 and 7, if played. The risky move more than paid off as Rooker
gave Tanner five good innings, holding the Orioles to one run in
the fifth when Gary
Roenicke scored on a double play grounder. The Pirate bats
finally came alive against Mike Flanagan in the sixth on
a Dave Parker RBI
single and a sacrifice fly by Willie Stargell. The Pirates added two
more in the seventh on a RBI triple by Tim Foli and a RBI double by Parker, and then
three more in the eighth on a RBI single by Phil Garner and a two-run single by Foli.
Thanks to the unexpected performance from Rooker, a 4-for-4 day
from Bill Madlock,
and Foli's three RBIs, the Pirates had staved off defeat.

The Pirates capped an amazing comeback on the strength of Willie
Stargell, who went 4 for 5 with a single, two doubles, and a
towering two-run homer in the sixth off Scott McGregor. For insurance
in the ninth, Omar
Moreno collected an RBI single, while another run scored when
Dave Parker and Bill Robinson were hit by
pitches back-to-back, scoring Moreno. Orioles manager Earl Weaver
made 5 pitching changes in the 9th inning in an attempt to keep the
game within reach. The O's only run came on a Rich Dauer solo homer in the third, the
team's only RBI in the last three games. Significantly, Eddie Murray, the
Orioles' main offensive threat, was 0 for 21 in the final five
games of the Series, including a fly-out to Parker to end the 8th
with the bases loaded and 2 outs (following an intentional walk to
Ken Singleton). Following their six run outburst in the eighth
inning of Game 4, the Birds scored only twice more over the series'
final 28 innings.

U.S. PresidentJimmy Carter made an
appearance in Game 7, he threw out the first ball, and after the
game made a visit to the victorious Pittsburgh locker room.

In 2006 a "collector's edition" DVD box set, featuring the complete ABC telecasts
of all seven games, was issued by Major League Baseball and A&E Home
Video.

Series
quotes

One-nothing, Baltimore, and a man aboard and Stargell at the
plate. McGregor comes to him. And
there's a high fly ball into deep right-center field! Back goes Singleton, way
back, to the wall! It's gone! He's done it! Pops has hit it
out!